Precious Weakness
by killslay
Summary: If you know what's good for you," She whispered into her sleeping child's ear, "Don't trust anyone or anything, especially dreams. You'll only end up breaking your heart." *revised*


One Piece is the property of Echiiro Oda, Shounen Jump, Shueisha, Viz Media, Toei Animation, and FUNImation Entertainment. I am making no money off of this and am trying not to break any copyright laws. Pirating is another matter!

(A/N: After Thursday's whammy, a nasty plot bunny evolved from an earlier theory and has since refused to leave me. So I leave the result to screw with your mind. Although, I have nothing on the mindscrew Oda left us in his latest chapter! TTFN!)

* * *

Precious Weakness

When you were an experienced sailor or soldier, you learned to train your body to wake at any time without any external alarms. With her experience within both of these professions, Crow was able to rouse herself at 2:30 AM with minimal difficulty. Thankfully, the little one was still asleep as well and hadn't woken his father. She pulled herself out of the small cot, leaving the warm sheets and the warmer body still curled next to her. She dressed quickly in the darkness, not allowing herself the briefest glance at her sleeping lover.

It was better to leave without any fuss, she told herself as she donned a large cloak and pulled the hood over her head to conceal her features. If she was to disappear completely from his life, it had to be done quickly and quietly.

Still, she couldn't leave without holding her baby one last time. He was so small, barely a few days old. So quiet and still now, for once. The last few days had been nightmare, stuffing drugged formulas down his throat and trying to keep him quiet. No one could know about their little one's lineage, so he had to remain secret even from their closest friends.

No doubt the boy's father would be good on his word and spirit their baby off to his supposed friend. She vividly remembered the disagreement.

_"This is no way for a child to live, shut away from the world! He deserves a normal life!"_

_"And I don't? I can't remember the last time I had the freedom to sail wherever I pleased and search for adventure!"_

_"That's different and you know it! You're an infamous rogue and your family…"_

_"Don't even mention my stupid family! I hate them! I hate you! How can you think of giving up our child to a Marine?!"_

_"Please, trust me on this, Crow."_

_"Trust! What a worthless idea. You can't trust anyone!"_

She'd trusted before. She'd trusted her strong and fearless brother. She'd trusted her brave and loyal nakama. And where were they now?

"If you know what's good for you," She whispered into her sleeping child's ear, "Don't trust anyone or anything, especially dreams. You'll only end up breaking your heart."

She'd tucked the infant back into the basket hidden within the cupboard and quietly left the cottage that had been her home for the past two years. It was ridiculously easy to leave both the man she owed her life to and the child she bore for him. Did that make her a terrible person? Well, so be it. She'd get nowhere hiding under her lover's cloak.

Crow made her way across the windy plain to the small nondescript house that was only a few acres from theirs. Her lover planned to move their base to a larger, more connected place before gathering up enough followers to begin operations. But for now they made due with the refuge of this wild island, tucked away out of sight from the long-reaching gaze of the World Government.

She knocked on the door, nervously tucking a strand of straight dark hair behind one ear. While her lover's friend was unpredictable, surely he wouldn't refuse such a request that was right down his alley?

"Who is it?" A large suspicious eye bordered by enormous and extravagant eyelashes peered through the keyhole.

"It's me, Ivankov." Crow pulled the hood back, "I have request."

"Crow-girl?" The door opened and the large okama quickly ushered the woman inside.

"Vell, this certainly is a surprise." The flamboyant figure led her to a garish fluffy couch and had her sit down, "Does Dragon require anythink?"

"No, this is personal." Crow took in a deep breath, "I need to become a man. I can't do anything shut in because of who I am. I can't stay here any longer."

The okama studied her for a long tense moment, his painted face a stern mask of inquiry.

"Does Dragon know?" He finally asked.

"No, he can't know." Crow stated, "I know that you suspect what we are and it isn't anything like that. I wouldn't leave him because of a lover's spat and you know I can't betray him to the World Government."

"Zat is for sure." Ivankov chuckled, "Vell, darlink, I have never been one to deny a gender svitch. But I do require a price. I cannot do somethink for nothink."

"Whatever it is, name it." Crow said without hesitation.

"Tell me your full name."

Crow paled and her fists clenched. That damn drag queen certainly did prove good on his word as being a Miracle Worker, but this…

"Vell darlink? You can always go back."

No. She'd never be able to go back. Never again.

_"You're still alive, then?"_

_She blearily opened her eyes to a small fire and a man wrapped in a cloak with dark hair and a mysterious tattoo that ran down the left side of his face sitting beside her with his face turned to the fire so that most of it was cloaked in shadow. She slowly sat up and winced as pain lanced through her head at the movement. She reached with her left hand to clutch her head...only to face a bloody bandaged stump._

_"It was caught between two ships when you were thrown overboard." He explained dispassionately, "I suppose you should be grateful you were unconscious at the time."_

_She forced her eyes away from the injury and tried to collect herself. This was no time to panic. She needed the ship's surgeon: he'd know how to fix it. And her vice-captain, he needed to tell her the full situation. Where was everyone?  
_

_"My nakama?" She whispered._

_"You were the only one who survived." The fathomless eyes showed no pity._

_"They're all dead?" She couldn't believe it. Her strong, brave, loyal nakama? The ones who'd followed her faithfully all these years, comforted her after the death of her family, and fought by her side to claim the legendary title of Pirate King? No. _No_. NO!_

_"Yes. The Cipher Poll is quite efficient. You didn't think that just because you were pirate, you could avoid the World Government? No one can."_

_Ice seemed to fill her veins as his cutting words penetrated through her disbelieving grief.  
_

_"I'll kill them." She said with calm fury, "I'll destroy every last one of them!"_

_"Then we have a similar purpose. I intend to destroy the World Government." He turned and faced her for the first time, "Will you fight by my side, Flame Crow?"_

The first few months together had been hard. They'd literally had nothing but the clothes on their back and the ambition to their goal that burned into their hearts. Bit by bit, they'd formed a small group while outlining their goals. The days were filled with strategies and debates while their nights had been tangled sheets and sticky bodies and soft whispers that still carried their hard purpose.

And then, it had all fallen apart. Crow knew her brother had found something on the Lost Century that carried the key to their victory. He'd mentioned something about powerful weapons in one of his letters. Weapons that could easily reduce the supposedly impregnable Maineford and Mariejois to rubble. Dragon would have none of that. He said the revolution would have to come from the bottom: the people must first be convinced to rise up. It would be slower, indefinitely bloodier. But Dragon had been adamant that searching for the Ancient Weapons was something he'd never allow her to fool!

She'd thought he'd understood, she'd thought she could trust him, but then when had anyone been worth trusting? Everyone let her down, even the child that was now sleeping peacefully, hidden away briefly from the cruel and unpredictable world, would eventually betray her. She had nothing left to lose...

"My name is Gol D. Crow." Crow finally said, her eyes hard as they bore into Ivankov's huge painted eyes.

"My God!" The okama's eyes widened with shock, "Any relation to…?"

"Gol D. Roger was my brother." She said coldly, "After he died, I went out to sea to claim the title of Pirate King. Needless to say, the World Government took offense to that. Hence my need to hide. Any other questions?"

"No Crow-girl," Iva regarded the composed woman with new interest, "I do believe I am qvite compensated."

"Then will you do it?"

"Von moment." The gloved hands made contact with her chest and Crow doubled over in pain as her body began morphing and expanding. Her clothes became quite strained as she began doubling in size, muscles hardening formerly soft flesh and inner organs shifting as they transformed from female reproductive parts to male organs.

He recovered, kneeling and panting upon the floor. The Miracle Worker stood over the newly-changed man with an amused expression upon his painted face.

"Vell, vat do you think?" The okama led Crow to a full length mirror with a gaudy baroque gilt frame.

Crow stared into the mirror. A tall, muscular man stared back. Even Dragon's borrowed clothes were tight against his thick body. His fingers were now as thick as a sausages, the implanted hook which had seemed large on her small frame was now diminutive in comparison.

"I must say, Crow-boy, you make qvite a hunk!" Iva cooed in admiration.

"No," His voice was deeper and rougher, but still carried her dry confident tone, "Not Crow. I must leave my former self behind. All of it. I need a new name. And my face is still…"

He lifted his sharpened hook and dragged it across his face, from ear to ear across the bridge of his nose.

"Vat are you doing?" Iva squawked as blood began to drip to floor and paint the new man's cheeks red.

"Calm down, idiot." The man chuckled, "I just don't want my old allies to catch on. You can bind it with needle and thread, but let it scar. Let it mark me as someone else."

Indeed, after the gash across his face was neatly stitched up, he doubted whether anyone would even be able to notice any resemblance between him and Gol D. "Flame" Crow. Perfect.

"Vat vill you call yourself, then?" Iva asked idly as he carefully tucked the needle and thread back into his neat sewing kit.

"I need a name," the scarred man pondered, "That will be an emblem of my new identity."

_"You know you have an advantage over me, knowing my full name while I only know your given name." She whispered, brushing the side of her face lightly with the back of her good hand._

_"I plan for it to stay that way." Dragon's cold eyes bore into hers, but softened slightly as he gently clasped her smaller hand in his and kissed the palm, "You see, my name isn't just who I am. It's an emblem. To my allies, I am the Dragon of vengeance that will lead them against their former masters to freedom. To my enemies, I am the fierce Dragon that will bring them to their knees. A name is more than a person, Crow: it's the world's conception of them."_

"The world must know me as a predator that will show it no mercy," A long lazy smile broke across the man's face, mirroring the jagged cut spread below his eyes.

"Crocodile."

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A minor note: The crow in Chinese mythology was often associated with the sun and the term "gold crow" referred to the three-legged bird that represented the sun in early Chinese myths.

Also, in the Ming dynasty, the Chinese invented a type of ballistic glider designed to burn down enemy ships and encampments that was called the Flaming Crow. Both references seemed rather appropriate in the context! :)


End file.
